Chapter 94: 94 | An Uninvited Guest
The doors of the main hall opened and the gala was already in full swing. Massive chandeliers lit up the ceiling, a live orchestra played from a stage at the far end, and hundreds of guests filled the space.
Men in suits and women in gowns, all holding champagne, chatting and smiling at people they couldn’t stand.
’Rich people really do love pretending to like each other.’ Dante thought as he walked in with Emma on his arm.
The moment they stepped inside, heads turned one by one like someone pushed the dominos.
Emma Evans, the youngest CEO of one of the biggest corporations, had arrived. If that wasn’t big enough, she had come with a man.
A man nobody had ever seen beside her at any event before.
The whispers started immediately.
"She actually came? Weren’t they saying she won’t attend this time?" A man looked at Emma and commented, swirling his glass.
"Who is that man beside her?" One of the women looked at Dante with curiosity in her eyes.
"Isn’t that the infamous director of Raven Group?" One of the guys who kept tabs on Raven Group’s affairs said with an interested smile.
"Wait, they came together? Are they a couple?"
"I thought he was some heir from a big family but he’s just a director?"
"Well, he isn’t just any director." A green-haired woman looked at the two of them with a knowing smile.
"Ms. Aria? Do you know something about him?"
The others turned to her, waiting for her to speak, but she ignored them and walked toward Emma and Dante.
Emma kept her expression cold as always but under that mask, she was very aware of the stares aimed at the two of them. ’T-they’re all looking at us. At my arm around his.’
Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed down since she got out of the car.
A waiter approached with a tray of champagne.
Dante took two glasses and handed one to Emma with a natural smile. She took it with her free hand, still not letting go of his arm.
Aria grabbed a glass from the waiter’s tray before he could walk away and appeared beside them with a smile. "It’s been a while, Emma."
"Aria." Emma’s cold expression softened just slightly. "I didn’t expect to see you here."
"I could say the same about you." Aria’s eyes moved to Dante and then down to Emma’s arm still locked around his. Her smile widened. "Did you two finally get together?"
Emma immediately shook her head with a nervous smile. "It’s not what you think."
"W-we just made up recently, right?" She glanced at Dante, signaling him to play along.
Dante caught her look and had a reluctant expression for a second before nodding, playing along with her.
Seeing his reaction, Aria raised an eyebrow and pointed at the group of women behind her. "Then you don’t mind if I introduce some of my friends, right?"
"Do you want to die?" Emma clenched her glass, her body trembling with anger. Her eyes were burning holes through Aria’s face.
"Haha, I’m just kidding! He’s all yours." Aria laughed, an amused look settling in her eyes. ’She’s definitely hiding something. Is she just too embarrassed to admit it?’
’Aria Bell. I didn’t expect to meet her here.’ Dante watched her tease Emma with a smile on his face. ’But it makes sense.’
Aria Bell was the only daughter of a self-made pharmaceutical tycoon who built Bell Medics from a single clinic into one of the largest drug manufacturers in the Allied States.
In the novel, she was one of the few people Emma ever opened up to outside of her family. They met in college and became best friends.
She had been rooting for Emma and Dante ever since she found out about their situation.
More importantly, after the drugging Incident, she was one of the few people who actually called Ryan out for what he did to her friend.
***
Half an hour prior, miles away from the Grand Zenith Tower, Marcus Devereux was lying on his couch in pajamas, tapping away at his phone with one hand and eating chips with the other.
His character died for the third time in a row.
"This shitty game has to be rigged!" He muttered, tossing the phone onto the cushion beside him.
It buzzed a second later.
He picked it up lazily. It was a message from one of his friends.
’Wait...!’ His eyes widened the moment he opened it.
It was a photo.
Two figures on a red carpet, walking side by side. His Emma was in an ice-blue gown, looking like something out of a painting. And beside her, arm linked with hers, was a man in a black suit.
The angle didn’t show his face.
Marcus stared at the photo for a long time. The chip bag in his hand crumpled slowly under his grip.
"How dare he..."
"Whoever that is must have a death wish." A murderous look flashed in his eyes. In his mind, the man holding his goddess’s arm was already dead.
’She can only be mine. And mine only.’ He tossed the crushed bag aside, got off the couch, and walked to his closet.
Shortly after, a white Lamborghini pulled out of the Devereux estate and headed toward the waterfront.
***
Now, back at the gala, Dante and the two ladies were sitting at their table.The first course had just been served when Dante felt something in his heart
His head instinctively turned toward the entrance.
A young man with blonde hair and blue eyes walked in wearing a white suit. One hand in his pocket, his eyes swept the hall like he was searching for someone.
"Mr. Marcus! I didn’t know you were attending tonight." A man spotted him and hurried over to greet him.
Marcus didn’t even stop walking. He just gave the man a single look and the guy froze on the spot, swallowing whatever he was about to say next.
His eyes kept scanning the room until they finally locked onto Emma sitting at a table near the center.
’Now then, let’s see who’s so eager to die.’ He slowly shifted his gaze to the man sitting beside her.
But the man was already looking in his direction. And the moment Marcus saw his face clearly, his confident expression cracked for a second.
’Why is it HIM?’
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